Close Banner

This ad is displayed using third party content and we do not control its accessibility features.

Could You Have An Almond Intolerance? How This Nut Affects Your Gut

Author:

Dana James, M.S., CNS, CDN

Medical reviewer:

Marvin Singh, M.D.

March 24, 2020

Board Certified Functional Nutritionist

By Dana James, M.S., CNS, CDN

Board Certified Functional Nutritionist

Dana James is a Columbia University–educated nutritional therapist and founder of Food Coach NYC.

Medical review by

Marvin Singh, M.D.

Integrative Gastroenterologist

Marvin Singh, M.D. is an integrative gastroenterologist in San Diego, California. He is trained and board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology/hepatology.

March 24, 2020

Imagine this scenario: You've eliminated all gluten from your diet. You’re partial to almond milk, and you're religious about checking food labels for gluten, but you’re still experiencing some abdominal discomfort or pain. Is your body relapsing from gluten, or is there something else going on?

If this sounds familiar, you might want to take a deeper look at your diet and answer this surprising question: How often are you eating almonds?

How almonds affect your gut.

Below are the ten most frequent sources of almonds I see in the food diaries of my gluten-free, dairy-free clients:

Smoothies made with almond milk or almond butter
Chia pudding made with almond milk
Coffee with almond milk
Avocado on gluten-free toast made with rice and almond flour
Raw vegan treats made with almonds
Paleo cookies made with almond flour and almond butter
Gluten-free crackers made with almond flour
Raw almonds
Vegetables tossed with almonds
Almond butter with fruit

After noticing how many almonds my clients ate in a single day, the question certainly became warranted—are almonds to blame for that similar, gluten-induced pain?

Here’s the truth: If you're eating almonds twice or more a day, you might be over-exposing yourself to almonds, much like you might have done with gluten. Gluten, as we know, can be very abrasive to the digestive tract, often initiating leaky gut in some gluten intolerant individuals. Almonds, especially when eaten raw, can also be abrasive to the digestive tract, as they contain phytic acid, which is indigestible 1 by humans.

“The phytic acid presence is much higher in raw almonds,” says immunologist Tania Elliott, M.D., FAAAAI, FACAAI. “Which is why I recommend soaking your almonds or choosing a roasted almond, which reduces the phytic acid levels ultimately decreasing the levels of digestive discomfort."

The solution? Keep your almonds to a healthy minimum.

That said, you might want to think about soaking your nuts, which breaks down the phytates and might make them easier to digest.

You can also lessen your almond-intake as a whole and become more savvy with gluten and dairy-free options. You can mix up your nut milks (try coconut, hemp, cashew, sunflower, and hazelnut), substitute gluten-free packaged goods for vegetables (yes, vegetables—you don't need the bread or crackers!) and limit your almond-filled vegan and Paleo treats to once per week.